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Contrary Creek, considered by the state as one of the most impaired waterways, is a former mining area. |
By RUSTY DENNEN
Virginia's rivers, lakes and streams, including many in the Fredericksburg area, are facing a growing threat from pollution.
That's according to the latest "impaired waters" report by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
The draft report, updated every two years, contains a six-year water quality assessment and a statewide list of impaired waters.
Key findings:
Impaired areas in rivers and streams increased from 10,543 miles in 2008 to 12,103 miles this year.
Impairments in the state's largest public-use lakes, such as Lake Anna, grew from 94,044 acres in 2008 to 96,510 acres in 2010.
One bright spot: Impaired areas in estuaries, including the Chesapeake Bay, dropped from 2,182 square miles to 2,157 square miles during the period.
Sufficient information was not available on about 34,500 miles of streams and rivers, and 3,700 acres of lakes and reservoirs.
"We continue to find watersheds where pollution is a problem," DEQ Director David K. Paylor said yesterday. "But we also are seeing more areas where water quality has improved. This is good news that we expect to continue as our cleanup efforts progress throughout the state."
The report notes that more than 430 waters have been removed from the impaired waters list because they now meet water quality standards.
In a statement yesterday, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said the report demonstrates that state waters and the bay are "still under siege" and that cleanup efforts must stay on track.
The data, "should alarm all who value clean water, public health and a vibrant economy," CBF Senior Scientist Mike Gerel said.
"Virginia simply must take more aggressive steps to reduce pollution, especially pollution running off farms, streets and parking lots."
The state is creating "pollution diets" to clean up the waterways, establishing total maximum daily loads--TMDLs--of allowable pollutants.
The impaired waters list is based on six designated uses: whether they can support aquatic life, fish consumption, public water supplies, shellfish consumption, swimming and wildlife.
Dozens of waterways, covering hundreds of miles in the Fredericksburg area, are impaired. Those are along tributaries of the Potomac River, the Rappahannock River and portions of the York River basin, which includes Lake Anna.
Among the problems: E. coli bacteria, indicating the presence of human and animal waste; low dissolved oxygen, which can kill plants and fish; high acidity; naturally occurring pollutants such as chloride; and the presence of persistent toxins such as PCBs and mercury, which have triggered fish-consumption advisories in portions of all three watersheds.
For example, a 6.5 mile section of Aquia Creek in Stafford is impaired for swimming, due to the presence of E. coli bacteria, according to the report.
Four miles of Potomac Creek, just down river, were listed for E. coli.
On the Rappahannock watershed, the report includes a 10-mile section of the Rapidan River, where mercury in fish prompted a fish-consumption advisory by the state Health Department. That's also the case in Motts Run Reservoir and Lake Gordonsville in Orange County.
Similar advisories for PCBs have been posted for the Rappahannock. Polychlorinated biphenyls, once used in cooling oils for electrical equipment and banned in the 1970s, can cause cancer and nervous system disorders.
Among problem areas on the York River watershed is Lake Anna, which has fish consumption advisories for PCBs and mercury.
Contrary Creek, a tributary of the lake, has multiple issues affecting aquatic life and wildlife, according to the report. The creek, which drains a former mining area, has been polluted by heavy metals including cadmium, copper and zinc, and the water is acidic.
DEQ officials say that there are no imminent threats to human health in impaired waters and that recreation generally is not harmful as long as people are aware of fish-consumption advisories and are careful about swallowing water.
Read the full report, deq.virgov/wqa/305b2010.html.Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is seeking comment on the 2010 Impaired Waters
Comments or questions may be mailed to Darryl M. Glover, DEQ Office of Water Monitoring and Assessment, Box 1105, Richmond, Va. 23218, or e-mailed to darryl.glover@deq.virginia.gov.
